Practice Patience
by beezyland
Summary: He feels like the biggest jerk in the world right now. Razor even tells him he's the biggest jerk in the world. Damon is broody and conflicted, but there's one thing that keeps him going - she kissed him back. Damon/Kaylie


Disclaimer: Still don't own anything. I should really stop feeling sad about this unchanging fact.

A/N: Inspired by something **Romance Novel **said, making me want to write more Damon/Razor friendship stuff and **jackychan92** who wanted to see some Damon/Kaylie. As if I haven't written enough fics in the last two weeks. Eat this up.

* * *

><p><strong>-XX-<strong>

**Practice Patience  
><strong>

The last thing Damon expected when he answered his front door is to get punched in the face, but that is exactly what happens.

He hears knocking. The door opens. BAM!

Confused and in shock, Damon holds his throbbing face in his hand and searches for his attacker. Just as the blood starts to gush from his nose, Damon sees Razor jumping up and down in his doorway, shaking off his hand and wincing.

"Damn that hurt," Razor complains. "They make it look so much more fun in the movies."

"Serves you right," Damon growls. He makes his way over to the kitchen and grabs a rag to hold to his nose. He has never been a fan of blood. Writing about messy confrontation, sure, singing about it, of course, but being involved in it is different all together. "The hell was that for, Razor?"

"Brian Kmetko was down at the Pizza Shack for, like, seven hours straight just sitting there," Razor explains as he invites himself into the apartment. He goes straight to the freezer and grabs two Otter pops, a red one to eat and a purple (because no one actually like the purple) to hold to his knuckles. "I finally ask him why and he says he can't go home because it kills him to hear his mom cry over Emily skipping town."

"What?" Damon asks. "Why would she do that?"

"Kid wouldn't tell me, but when I so much as mentioned you he went into a blinding rage, which I don't think is too healthy for a kid on wheels," Razor says thoughtfully. He sits at the small kitchen table and starts eating his popsicle like nothing happened. Damon would kick him out if he weren't so eager to hear more.

"And then you assumed I did something wrong and it's all my fault that she's gone so you came here and punched me in the face without thinking to even ask first?"

"First I bought the kid an entire pizza, took it out of my paycheck and brought him home," Razor says. He sounds quite proud of his adult-decision. "Plus, dude, it's pretty obvious that it is your fault. What happened?"

"I'll remind you that she's the one who broke up with me," Damon points out. He goes to the freezer and groans when all he sees inside is the half-empty box of Otter Pops. He makes a mental note to buy ice cube trays, grabs a blue one and holds it to his face. "I'm the victim here."

"You aren't the one who dropped everything and left on a bus," Razor says. "When was the last time you saw Emily?"

Walking over to the table and sitting across from Razor, Damon thinks back and it strikes him. "She came over, all frantic, saying she was ready to drop her gymnastics career to be with me. Then I basically told her that wasn't happening and she seemed a little upset about it, but not enough to up and leave. At least I didn't think…"

"So you rejected her."

Damon hates the finality of that statement and glares. "She rejected me first."

"What happened?" Razor asks. "Last I checked you would have given your left foot Saw-style to get back together with Emily then the universe drops her right back in your lap and you turn it down? Dae, you turned down the combined efforts of the universe and Emily Kmetko, the girl who we nearly wrecked our friendship over. What gives?"

Kaylie Cruz.

Damon still feels the pull towards the cute, innocent pink-loving girl. He can already feel the smile start to pull at his lips just imagining her literally popping into the studio, wearing a pink cardigan and an enthusiasm for music. He thinks about the way her brown eyes shine when they're singing together, how she fights a smile when he sings to her. Most of all, he thinks about how her words said one thing, but her lips said another. He kissed her and she kissed him back.

"You're going to want to punch me again if I answer that…"

"Well, would you deserve it?"

"No, but apparently we both have very different definitions of 'deserve'," Damon says. He repositions his hand, now using the Otter Pop to numb the other side of his bruising nose. "I…I fell for someone else."

Saying 'fell' rather than 'made out in a recording room' seemed like the smarter choice here.

"I knew it. I knew this was going to happen!" Razor hits the wooden table with his fist, momentarily forgetting about his hand and then winces, but pain shoots all through his arm. Damon can't help, but smirk just a little. Karma.

"I didn't mean for it…"

"But do we ever mean to do things that make everything fall apart?" Razor asks in return. "Oh, for instance, did you mean to move in on Emily when I was away doing that roadie gig?"

Damon sighs. "Ray, you still aren't over that?"

"You knew I was into her and you just didn't care."

"I loved her!"

"But now you love this other chick now? Probably some groupie—"

Damon drops his Otter Pop and the bloody rag before crosses the room in a flash, seizing Razor by the collar of his shirt and tipping him back in his seat. Razor, with the near empty popsicle hanging from his mouth, flails for a moment, about to fall backwards, but Damon holds him in place, glaring.

"Kaylie isn't a groupie," Damon hisses. "You don't think I know? You think I would just throw away this forth or fifth or whatever-it-is chance with Emily if this was just some fling with a groupie? I'm not stupid, Razor. I wouldn't do that. That's why everything is so messed up. What I have with Kaylie…it's something. It's amazing and I'm not ready to just let that go."

"Did you say Kaylie?" Razor blinks. The plastic tube falls from his mouth, bounces off his thigh and hits the floor. "As in Emily's friend? The keg stand girl?"

Damon frowns, his eyes clouding with guilt. The fact that Emily and Kaylie are friends and teammates is always at the forefront of his mind and it has him in a coiled, conflicted mess.

"Yes."

"That is so uncool of you, Damon. You are the biggest asshole in the world."

Damon groans and lets him go. Razor topples backwards in his chair and crashes onto the ground.

"No," Razor groans, getting back to his feet. "_That_ was uncool."

"Did you not just hear what I told you? Forget it, Ray. Just let it go." Damon shakes his head and storms towards the door, grabbing his leather jacket and his keys. He hears Razor shouting after him, but he just doesn't have the time or energy or mental capacity to deal with him at the moment.

Damon is used to the way his relationship with Razor functions. They've always been this way with one another. They're totally honest to the point of being annoying, extremely competitive and they roughhouse and beat on each other without apology and without offense. If their friendship stood the Emily Kmetko Test of Potential Doom then nothing they say or do can completely destroy them. Storming out on one another isn't some big, dramatic statement. It just puts a pause on the conversation until they meet again.

When Damon said he isn't stupid he wasn't lying. He does know that he's being uncool. He never meant for using Kaylie's studio to turn into singing and writing with Kaylie and eventually kissing and falling for the girl. The fact that Kaylie is Emily's friend and teammate only twists the blade even deeper. But how is he supposed to just stop wanting her? How did he just stop wanting Emily?

Parked out in front of the Cruz house, Damon sees every single light off and the cars gone from the driveway. He assumes no one's home and decides to wait a bit to see if she shows up. Damon knows he should apologize, but part of him doesn't want to. Part of him doesn't think it's right to apologize for seeing what a sweet, strong and talented person she is and wanting to show her how much he adores her.

Sitting in his convertible with the top down and only the stars as his company, Damon starts writing in his Moleskine. He laughs at himself and scribbles on the pages and crosses things out. The words on paper don't lie. It seems like 'forbidden love' is a running theme in his life.

At one point Damon falls asleep and he doesn't wake back up until someone shakes his shoulder. His eyes shoot open and he jumps in his seat, but then he sees Kaylie standing there. Her smile is such a comfort. It calms him instantly and Damon can't help, but smile himself. It must be early morning or something because the sky is just starting to grow lighter with splashes of pinks and warm oranges.

"Hey."

"Smiley," she says. "What are you doing? Were you parked out here all night?"

"I got here around ten," Damon looks the screen of his cell phone that says it's six in the morning, "Yeah, I came by to talk to you last night and I guess I fell asleep."

"Sorry. Mom and I were out. A little impromptu camping trip with my friends and their families." Kaylie motions to the driveway and when Damon sees Ronnie checking the mailbox, he raises his hand in hello.

Damon frowns and gets out of the car, itching for some movement. Kaylie leans against the side of his car, awkwardly shifting from one foot to the other. Damon lifts his hands up over his head to stretch. How he actually managed to sleep a dreamless sleep behind the wheel makes no sense, but it happened.

"So by 'friends' I'm assuming Emily wasn't included," Damon says.

Kaylie frowns. "So you heard she's gone, huh?"

"I heard, but I don't know why," Damon says. His words trail off, almost expecting her to finish the sentence for him, but she doesn't. Kaylie so hesitant and on edge around him and Damon doesn't like it. "So I guess you aren't going to tell me, right?"

"It's probably best if you heard it straight from her or her mom or something," Kaylie explains. "Emily is a good friend. When I, uh, when I was in rehab not once did she tell anyone about it and after everything that's happened not talking about her is the least I could do."

"I respect that." Damon nods. "So are things going to be weird between us from now on?"

"I don't want it to be," Kaylie says and she's so sincere about it. She's so sincere about everything. That's one of the things Damon finds most intriguing about her. "Honestly, you've been such a big help to me these last few days and we have fun together. Damon, if I ever led you on in any way or—"

Damon chuckles. "Kaylie, don't."

Even her confusion looks genuine. "Don't what?"

"Don't pretend like you don't want to be with me too, like you can't feel what we have," he says. He knows how desperate he sounds, but by the way she won't look at him, Damon knows he's on to something. He looks at her hand resting on the car door and he takes it just to watch her pull it away.

"Damon," she whispers, "I can't. I already lost Emily as a friend and I don't want to lose you too."

"Then why are you pushing me away?"

"I can't be what you want me to be!" Kaylie shouts at him. "You of all people should know that. All my life I've always been what other people wanted and I can't and I won't anymore. I thought you understood that. I thought you understood me."

Damon felt like an asshole before, but now it just increases tenfold as he watches Kaylie try to compose herself. She's right about to walk away when Damon wraps his arms around her in a hug. At first she doesn't respond, just stands there, but Damon doesn't give up. He hugs her even tighter to remind her that she isn't alone.

"I know," he whispers into her hair. "I'm sorry if I pushed you. I'm sorry if I ruined your friendship with Emily. I'm sorry. And I do understand you, Kaylie. Sometimes so much that it scares me."

Once he says that, Damon feels Kaylie's hands creep up his back and she finally returns the hug. They're both so messed up. Physically, his clothes are all rumpled from sleeping in his car and she has the strongest urge to go inside and wash her hair from sleeping outdoors. Emotionally, they've both wrecks for obvious reasons. That aside, they have each other and neither wants it to end any time soon.

Damon's selfish desire to be something more with Kaylie still hasn't disappeared, but he is willing to practice patience and so when she invites him inside for breakfast he accepts as long as he can use the bathroom because he needs to pee really bad and they spend some time in the studio later. Kaylie readily agrees and they walk off together.

There aren't any words to describe why he feels the way he does. There are no lyrics in the history of music that can explain why he's willing to throw his entire world into chaos for one girl even if she makes him break free from his brooding nature and calls him 'Smiley.' And he won't ever let go of the hope that they could be together without judgment and without guilt one day.

Because when he kissed her, she kissed him back. That says everything he needs to know.

* * *

><p><span>AN: Haha I thought this was way more dramatic than it needed to be, but it is Kaylie Cruz. Her dialogue made me cringe a bit (and I wrote it) especially her shouting at Damon, but I could seriously imagine it on the show. Am I right? Now, on to business: are we calling them Daylie or Kaymon? Review.

xoxo


End file.
